Abbey Park School
Academy sponsor led · 1,193 pupils
87% stayed in education · Attainment 8 46.2
Academy converter
St Joseph's Catholic College
- Pupils on roll
- 1,425of 1,350 places
- Free school meals
- 20.6%
- Year 11 cohort 2025
- 278
- Ofsted
- School remains Good, 8 November 2023Read the Ofsted report
Results below include those reported under the school’s previous registration: St Joseph's Catholic College (URN 126504, until 1 August 2011).
What the data says
St Joseph's Catholic College has no sixth form. Of the 272 pupils who finished Year 11 there in 2023, 16% moved to a sixth form college, 71% to a further education college and 1% started an apprenticeship.
GCSE results in 2025 were well below the national picture: Attainment 8 of 38.0 against 46.1 across England and 44.0 in Swindon, with 28% of pupils getting grade 5 or above in both English and maths (England 45%).
Religious Studies is unusually popular at GCSE: 92% of the year group took it, against 31% of pupils across England.
Almost every leaver found a sustained destination: only 2% were not in education, work or training six months on, against 6% nationally.
Where pupils went after Year 11
Destinations of the 2023 Year 11 leavers, measured the following year: the share in a sustained place for at least two terms. Compared with all state-funded schools in Swindon and England.
School sixth formSixth form collegeFurther education collegeOther educationApprenticeshipEmploymentNo sustained destination
| Measure | St Joseph's Catholic College | Swindon | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils in the cohort | 272 | 2,533 | 607,348 |
| Any sustained destination | 98% | 92% | 92% |
| Stayed in education | 95% | 87% | 86% |
| — school sixth form | 8% | 19% | 34% |
| — sixth form college | 16% | 19% | 13% |
| — further education college | 71% | 47% | 37% |
| — other education | — | 3% | 2% |
| Apprenticeship | 1% | 3% | 3% |
| Employment | 1% | 3% | 3% |
| No sustained destination | 2% | 6% | 6% |
| Destination unknown | 0% | 2% | 3% |
GCSE results 2025
| Measure | St Joseph's Catholic College | Swindon | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 (average points per pupil) | 38.0 | 44.0 | 46.1 |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 28% | 43% | 45% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 49% | 63% | 65% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate subjects | 8% | 34% | 41% |
| EBacc average point score | 3.22 | 3.91 | 4.09 |
| Disadvantaged pupils in the cohort | 26% | 23% | 28% |
| Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils | 30.6 | 32.5 | 34.9 |
| Attainment 8 — other pupils | 40.5 | 47.5 | 50.4 |
| Pupils with high prior attainment (Key Stage 2) | — | — | — |
| English as an additional language | 23% | 16% | 19% |
Progress 8 is not available for 2025 and 2026: these cohorts had no Key Stage 2 tests in 2020 and 2021, so there is no baseline. Attainment 8 shows results without taking pupils’ starting points into account.
Subjects taken at GCSE
Entries in 2025 as a share of the Year 11 cohort, and the share of entries graded 7–9 and 4–9, compared with all entries in England.
| Subject | Entries | Share of cohort | England | Grades 7–9 | England | Grades 4–9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 261 | 94% | 88% | 10% | 22% | 59% |
| English Language | 261 | 94% | 89% | 8% | 20% | 50% |
| English Literature | 260 | 94% | 86% | 10% | 21% | 59% |
| Religious Studies | 255 | 92% | 31% | 17% | 32% | 51% |
| Combined Science | 196 | 71% | 65% | 3% | 9% | 47% |
| Geography | 164 | 59% | 41% | 10% | 25% | 49% |
| Business Studies | 143 | 51% | 18% | 4% | 20% | 44% |
| Psychology | 65 | 23% | 3% | 11% | 22% | 43% |
| History | 65 | 23% | 41% | 6% | 26% | 37% |
| Biology | 63 | 23% | 23% | 24% | 45% | 95% |
| Chemistry | 61 | 22% | 23% | 41% | 47% | 97% |
| Physics | 61 | 22% | 23% | 25% | 46% | 95% |
| Computer Science | 54 | 19% | 13% | 6% | 30% | 33% |
| Art and Design | 26 | 9% | 7% | 19% | 24% | 58% |
| French | 20 | 7% | 18% | 15% | 29% | 60% |
| Food Preparation and Nutrition | 18 | 6% | 8% | 0% | 21% | 33% |
| Design and Technology | 18 | 6% | 11% | 11% | 23% | 61% |
| Textiles | 17 | 6% | 2% | 29% | 27% | 94% |
| Drama | 16 | 6% | 7% | 0% | 27% | 50% |
| Graphic Communication | 14 | 5% | 1% | 7% | 23% | 71% |
| Italian | 12 | 4% | 0% | 8% | 53% | 83% |
| Polish | 6 | 2% | 1% | 100% | 84% | 100% |
| Portuguese | 5 | 2% | 0% | — | 50% | — |
| Music | 4 | 1% | 5% | — | 33% | — |
| Photography | 2 | 1% | 6% | — | 19% | — |
| Turkish | 2 | 1% | 0% | — | 71% | — |
| Fine Art | 1 | 0% | 9% | — | 28% | — |
| Spanish | 1 | 0% | 19% | — | 27% | — |
| Chinese | 1 | 0% | 1% | — | 75% | — |
Technical awards and other Key Stage 4 qualifications
| Subject | Entries | Share of cohort | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Health Studies | 48 | — | — |
| Sports Studies | 39 | — | — |
| Music performance: Group | 1 | — | — |
Other secondary schools in Swindon
Great Western Academy
Free schools · sixth form · 1,039 pupils
85% stayed in education · Attainment 8 45.5
Kingsdown School
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82% stayed in education · Attainment 8 41.4
Lawn Manor Academy
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86% stayed in education · Attainment 8 37.5
Lydiard Park Academy
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86% stayed in education · Attainment 8 47.0
Nova Hreod Academy
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84% stayed in education · Attainment 8 49.1
Sources: Department for Education school and college performance tables 2024/2025 (Key Stage 4 and 16–18 results, subject entries, destination measures for 2023 leavers); Get Information About Schools register as at 19 September 2026; Ofsted management information as at 31 August 2026. Small numbers are suppressed by DfE and shown as “—”. How to read these figures.